Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: In One Piece
by MechaManiac
Summary: Coming from a world of endless ocean, these five youths are now space pirates rising up against the Space Empire Zangyakku! Straw-Hats no more, they are now the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger! One Piece X Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
1. The Space Pirates Appear!

_The Legend War... little is known about its true nature or how it really started... However, the facts are as cold as stone: some time before the year 2011 AD, an extraterrestrial force known as the Space Empire Zangyakku attacked the third planet of the Sol system, expecting an easy conquest. What they got was something else entirely... something far greater than what they bargained for. To anyone who knows the name of the Sol system's third planet, they, too, would know of a great and wondrous army that protected it from any and all danger: the 34 Super Sentai._

_From Himitsu Sentai Goranger to Chojin Sentai Jetman, and from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger to Tensou Sentai Goseiger, these costumed heroes mobilized to fight off the Zangyakku horde. Although both sides fought valiantly, the net result, in the end, was stalemate: the 34 Super Sentai sacrificed their powers and abilities to force the Zangyakku into retreat. To an objective viewer, it would only be a matter of time before the Zangyakku tried again... and the people of the third planet would be powerless to stop them..._

_-Maxwell Robin, Historian. The Greatest Treasure in the Universe, Prologue. Circa 2211 AD._

* * *

In the dark recesses of space, what looked like a red spaceship in the form of a pirate's galleon approached a certain little blue planet with a single natural satellite. On the side of its hull and on its sails was a symbol that was proudly bore: crossed cutlasses, with another shape that resembled a key layered atop them. As it wound its way through the jet black, one of the ship's occupants started hopping around in glee.

"Bwaark! I sense it! I sense it!" a maroon-colored, parrot-shaped robot squawked as it flew to a nearby chair.

"What's up, Navi?" a red-headed girl asked of it; she wore a striped shirt (which helped to accentuate her impressive bust) overlain with a yellow jacket with black checkered pants and brown leather boots, complete with a few rings and a golden locket. "What are you sensing?"

"It's Earth!" the robot, Navi, replied. "It's where the Greatest Treasure in the Universe, One Piece, lies!"

"Never thought our journey for One Piece would take us into space..." a long-nosed man piped up; along with his black hair and slightly perturbed eyes, he wore a dark green jacket with elaborate gold markings which hid a plaid green shirt. Along with his gold necktie, he also sported olive-green jeans and white sneakers. He got up and approached a computer console, typing in a few commands. In moments, a view-screen in the room showed an image of the Earth itself, cast as a beautiful backdrop for its Moon. "So, that's Earth?" the man inquired.

"That's right!" the parrot robot confirmed.

"Amazing..." the man gaped.

"It truly is..." another voice added; heads turned to one of the corners of the room, where a light blue-haired, pony-tailed girl sat with a cup of tea; although she wore a pink overcoat, she also donned a white t-shirt with a simple beige blouse and light brown, fur-lined boots. Overall, it seemed she was more conservative when it came to clothing choice. "I bet they must live pretty peaceful lives there," she added, getting up.

"Only you would say something like that, Vivi," the red-haired woman responded. "If you ask me, the only thing I see are... jewels! Possibly worth billions of Beri!" she added in excitement.

"Nami, why do you always think of money at the first available opportunity?" the man in green asked in exasperation.

"Because she's obsessed with the concept," a new voice interjected; coming up from the stairs that led deeper into the ship was a green-haired man with three identical rings adorning the lobe of his left ear. He wore a blue jacket that was laden with zippers that partially covered a black t-shirt. He also wore white cargo pants, complete with simple grey boots. "Besides, we're not here for the money. We're here because we'll be the first people who can say that they've found and obtained One Piece."

Unnoticed, or perhaps noticed but ignored, a hand dug into a box filled with colorful figurines of varying shades; the hand grabbed nothing, but rather swept through the contents.

"And you can't drop that 'cool' act of yours?" the red-headed Nami shot back. "We all know you're fired up for this, Zoro!"

"Still, kind of hard to believe that One Piece is on this planet, if the rumors about it being in the galaxy's backwaters is true..." the man in green wondered in doubt. "I mean, why would a treasure that's said to be worth as much as the entire universe be located there?"

All the while, the hand in the chest picked up a red figure and turned it over a couple of times. "It has to be there," the owner of the hand, currently sitting in the captain's chair, piped up. "I can feel it in my gut."

Looking at their apparent leader for a short while, the four nodded in agreement... before a short beeping sound, accompanied by a red light, caught their attention. Nami returned to the control console and attempted to operate it. After a few short button presses, she apparently got frustrated. "Usopp, give me a hand!" she demanded.

"No need to get all bossy at me, I'm coming!" the man in green, Usopp, quipped as he shuffled over. His magic touch did what Nami's could not: magnify the video feed of the Earth. Upon doing so, everyone's eyes widened in shock at the sight of several brown spaceships rising up from behind the moon: a central command tower at the back joining two long, bronze cannons on either side. "The Zangyakkian Armada!" Usopp cried in shock, cowering behind Nami. "They've found us! We're done for!"

"Well, the odds aren't in our favor," the man in blue, Zoro, coolly noted. "What are we going to do now, Luffy?"

"We'll just have to shift the odds so that they're in our favor, then," the man sitting in the chair simply stated.

"Are you serious, Luffy?" Ussop incredulously demanded.

"Of course I am," the captain confirmed, getting up out of his chair. The man wore a heavy red coat with gold buttons on either side; under it was a blue undershirt with red highlights and a heavy, golden necklace with the numeral XXXV emblazoned upon it. He also donned blue sailor's pants which were held up with a golden-buckled belt, and jet-black leather boots. His hair was black, short and spiky, and his eyes were sparkling with a light not seen in a long time, ever since the conquest of the Endless Ocean. Finally, and perhaps most distinctly, a thin scar curved under his left eye, proof of a fool-hardy, childish dare.

"After all..." Captain Monkey D. Luffy continued with a goofy grin, holding up the red figure in his hand, which looked vaguely like a pirate, with the exception of its all-concealing helmet. "...we're pirates!" A simple twitch of his fingers, and the figure's legs flipped up so that the body had essentially folded in half... revealing a glistening, silver key... and the symbol that so adorned their ship...

* * *

**Borne from another world of endless ocean, these five youths venture forth into the cosmos, searching for One Piece, the Greatest Treasure in the Universe. Once weak, they now rise up against the conquerors of their home, the Space Empire Zangyakku, proudly honoring their pirate heritage and legacy! Their name is...!**

**KAIZOKU SENTAI GOKAIGER**

**~IN ONE PIECE~**

**EPISODE 1: STRAW-HATS NO MORE! THE SPACE PIRATES APPEAR!**

**

* * *

**

The space-worthy galleon sped up to confront the forces of the Zangyakkian Armada, those on the other side wondering if the pirates were so idiotic as to confront their mighty imperial forces.

"Ready the cannons!" a red-clothed man ordered within the red Gokai Galleon, standing behind a red ship's wheel; the man looked exactly like the figurine/key the Captain was holding a few moments ago. "We're gonna blow right past them, nakama!"

Meanwhile, on one of the enemy ships, the commander, mostly blue with large claws for hands and a fish-like helmet, was looking at the five wanted posters for the pirate fugitives from the Endless Ocean: "Straw-Hat" Monkey D. Luffy, with a bounty 1,500,000 Zagins; "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro, with a bounty of 1,300,000 Zagins; "Cat Burglar" Nami, with a bounty of 300,000 Zagins, "Rogue Princess" Nefertari Vivi, with the same bounty as the previous; finally, "Gadgeteer Sniper" Usopp, with a bounty of 100 Zagins. All were marked with a "Dead or Alive" disclaimer and pictures of their faces; whoever wanted their hides didn't care if they were still breathing when all was said and done. "The Fugitives, huh?" the commander wondered aloud as he returned to the captain's stall. "Once we crush them, we'll be able to collect the bounties on their heads! Get them!" he ordered.

The fleet of ships opened fire on the lone vessel, plumes of explosive fire popping up all over. Thus far, however, the graduates of the Imperial Marksmanship Academy had completely failed to sink the great red ship. The man in red was privately glad that such graduates had been, reliably and repeatedly, very poor shots.

"Port-side Galleon Cannons! Fire!" he ordered, and a mighty barrage from the ship's left side answered the call: cannonballs adorned with the sword-and-key marking crashed into a nearby Imperial cruiser, blowing it up to kingdom come. "Hard to starboard!" the man in red cried, yanking the ship's wheel to the right; the ship began circling around to face the fleet of enemies once more, ramming into another Imperial cruiser in the process.

"Sir, we've lost over half of our ships!" one of the helmsmen reported to the commander after a few more moments of engagement.

"Damn those fugitives! They're screwing with us!" the commander growled. "It's time to stop playing games! All forces, concentrate firepower!"

All at once, the remainder of the Zangyakkian fleet focused all of their firepower on the Gokai Galleon, their combined might creating a massive explosion.

"How do you like that?" the commander boasted, clenching his right claw in victory. Unfortunately for him, from the flames dashed a humanoid figure; its torso was colored in red and black. Its right arm was blue and had parts of a jet attached to it, while the left was green and wheels were prominently displayed. Its left leg also had some wheels, but the foot looked like the cab for a semi truck and was colored yellow; the right was pink and had elements of a submarine scattered over it. In each hand, it carried an elaborate cutlass, and as if to remove any doubt, it also wore a pirate's hat. Overall, the large robot looked like a giant pirate.

"Boooooooring..." the man in red droned as the robot charged towards the fleet.

"What the-?" the commander of the enemy fleet gazed in stupefaction.

Jumping up from the surface of the moon, the robot twirled its cutlasses as it raged through the remainder of the Zangyakkian ships, the man in red being joined by similar-suited warriors in blue, green, yellow, and pink in some sort of main cockpit area. Maneuvering the robot to port, the team proceeded to slash through another ship, rebounded, then fired off several laser bolts that took out a majority of the remaining fleet. The commander could only look on in fear as the robot collided feet-first with his command vessel, and both they and the two remaining Zangyakkian cruisers (having collided with the command vessel due to forward momentum) were caught in an explosion. The robot emerged from the flames unscathed.

"Well, that's that," the yellow woman noted, her voice sounding exactly like Nami's. "All that's left is to head for Earth!"

"One Piece, if you're there, then we're coming for you!" the man in green, who sounded like Usopp, cheered.

The man in red, who sounded like Luffy, _hmph_-ed. "It's there," he commented before yanking his ship's wheel to starboard; the robot's limbs disconnected from its torso, and each component transformed into five vehicles: a fighter jet, a race car, a semi truck, a submarine, and finally the red Gokai Galleon. The blue jet shrank and was inserted into an open hatch on the green race car. In turn, the car was inserted into the white-and-pink sub, which inserted itself into the yellow semi, which itself was inserted into the Gokai Galleon. The gallant ship turned to port and entered the Earth's atmosphere...

* * *

In the city of Tokyo, the citizenry were going about their business on another normal day, asking acquaintances what there were having for dinner that night, or where they got new clothing. All thoughts of such things were derailed, however, when they all heard a loud noise coming from somewhere up above; they looked up as one and saw a red pirate ship gliding through the sky. Granted, it had wings near the sturn, but it was a pirate ship nonetheless. With no warning whatsoever, the flying galleon dropped a pair of red anchors onto the city below; one crashed right in the middle of a pedestrian walkway, while the other landed on a sitting bench. From the bottom of the ship, five young men and women roped their way down onto the top of a low-lying building, the man in red holding a megaphone.

"Greetings, Earthlings!" Luffy announced with closed eyes and a silly grin on his face, turning the megaphone on with a short audial whine. "We're the Gokai Pirates! And I'm Captain Monkey D. Luffy!"

"What? Pirates?" asked one of the crowd.

"What's going on?" asked another.

"This planet harbors One Piece, doesn't it?" Luffy asked the crowd, continuing as though there were no murmurs. "Just tell us where we can find it, and we'll be on our way."

"'One Piece'? What's that?" a third onlooker questioned.

"Does such a thing even exist?" a fourth wondered.

Luffy looked on at the crowd, the grin slowly slipping from his face while his shining eyes dulled once more. A sudden yanking motion told him that someone had grabbed the megaphone from him. "Don't lie to us," Nami's magnified voice demanded. "We know it's here."

"Nami..." Vivi piped up from behind. "We won't get anywhere if we keep trying to demand it." She then took the megaphone from Nami's hands and held it up to her own mouth. "It's a pleasure to meet everyone," she announced. "The treasure we're searching for, One Piece, is also known as the Greatest Treasure in the Universe." She received nothing but blank stares. "Let's see here..." she murmured, the stares not fazing her one bit. "You, good sir!" she pointed to a middle-aged man wearing glasses. He pointed to himself, wondering if he was the one she meant. "Yes, you."

"Yes?" he answered in response.

"Do you know where we can find One Piece, the Greatest Treasure in the Universe?" Vivi inquired.

"Well, this is the first time I've heard either of those terms," the man with glasses admitted. "I'm afraid I have no idea where that treasure is currently located."

"I see... do you know anyone else who would possibly know?" Vivi probed further.

"I'm sorry, but... I don't think anyone here on Earth knows anything about the treasure you're looking for," the man in glasses answered to the best of his ability. Everyone else nodded in agreement, leaving the five pirates somewhat flummoxed.

"This isn't what we were told..." said Zoro in disappointment.

"I knew it... One Piece is somewhere else..." Usopp whined, hanging his head.

"OK, Luffy," Nami demanded. "What are we gonna do now?"

Luffy was silent for a moment, staring straight ahead of him. He then turned to the others with a smirk on his face. "Let's go get something to eat," he announced. "I'm kinda hungry right now."

"Well, that's Luffy for you: always thinking with his stomach first," Zoro snarked as Luffy began to head off.

"Hold up, Luffy! We don't have any of this planet's currency!" Usopp pointed out.

"That's right!" Nami chimed in. "Somehow, I doubt very much that they use Beri or Zagins here."

Luffy stopped. "Then I guess it's a good thing Nami has so many rings," he simply stated.

Nami blinked her eyes a couple of times. Then she took a look at the rings on her left hand, then at Luffy, then at the rings. After a couple more sweeps, she seemingly understood what Luffy was talking about. "...WHAT?" she shouted, her eyes bulging. Apparently, whatever Luffy had in mind, she did not like one bit.

* * *

At that moment, between the Earth and the Moon, a much larger Zangyakkian force had been amassed. There were thousands of cruisers, but they were dominated by a much larger ship, similar in structure to its brethren, yet distinctly different: the two pylons on either side of the command tower were shaped like the heads of horses, and just in front of the tower was a short protrusion proudly bearing the Empire's coat of arms. It also helped that this ship was mainly white in color. Inside stood the commander of this fine vessel, a humanoid that looked very much like a streamlined royal: mostly colored white with blue highlighting on his shoulder pads, the feather-like fins adorning either side of his head, and the edges of his commander's coat. Golden threads hung loosely from the cuffs of his sleeves. Slightly obscured by the thin, white divider horn running vertically down in front of his face, said face was colored silver, his blue eyes glowing in anticipation as he gazed upon the blue planet.

He swiftly turned around to face the bridge area behind him. "Barizorg," he addressed in a pompous voice, "Insaan, are the preparations for our invasion of Earth complete?"

"**YES, BOSS,**" the first individual confirmed; mostly colored in shades of gray and rust brown, he looked like he was made out of scrap metal, his most defining feature being the large gear that surrounded his left eye. "**YOUR FAVORITE COLD-BLOODED ACTION COMMANDER IS ON STANDBY, MASTER OILES GIL**."

"I have also developed the greatest weapons to date for us to turn on this planet, my leige," a woman answered in a sultry, seductive tone; mostly colored in acid green, she had large crimson shoulder pads that curved upwards, two golden horns sticking out from either side of her head (the right being substantially longer than the left), a white lower face, with the exception of her black lips, and had a red visor for eyes. It also helped that she had one of the best bust lines in the entire known universe. "I can't wait to see that joyous look on your face when you see them being used~" she added, leaning in to her commander in a seductive manner, fingering his elaborate chest. Oiles Gil merely brushed her off as he moved towards his command chair.

"There shall be no holding back!" he announced grandly, his arms spread wide. "We must show the Earthlings the power of our glorious Space Empire Zangyakku!"

"Yes, sir," the green Insaan and the gray Barizorg confirmed. Oiles Gil made to sit down when a voice from his left caught his immediate attention.

"Your Highness," the voice said; Oiles Gil gazed in its direction, seeing a bronze humanoid with a red cape; his chest was emblazoned with an elaborate golden bird, his head full of vertical ridges all over, his eyes small and beady, glowing with a bright white light. "We've lost contact with our advance forces. We believe they were wiped out by the fugitive Gokai Pirates."

"WHAT?" Oiles shouted in anger, standing up straight. "Those... _imbeciles_! How dare they disgrace our mighty army! Barizorg!"

The robot turned around to face his commander.

"Delete the advance forces' data from the records!" the incensed white humanoid ordered.

"**YES, BOSS,**" Barizorg confirmed. "**HOW SHOULD WE DEAL WITH THE FUGITIVES?**"

"Ignore them for now," Oiles commanded, walking through the command area. "Pests like them are mere gnats compared to our Empire."

"Your Highness, I must advise against this course of action," the bronze figure interjected; Oiles looked at him in irritation. "To use a popular colloquialism, if we don't deal with them now, they may come back to bite us in the ass later."

Both Barizorg and Insaan looked at the scene, and both knew full-well what was to come.

"GRAAAAH! YOU DARE DEFY ME, DAMARAS?" Oiles shouted and wildly gesticulated, walking towards the now-identified Damaras. "ME? OILES GIL? THE FIRST SON OF EMPEROR ZANGYAKKU HIMSELF?"

"Not at all," Damaras calmly relplied. "I was merely suggesting the correct course of action we should take."

"Grrr..." Oiles growled. "Your suggestion is duly noted." He then turned around in a huff and finally sat down in his chair. "Lay in a course for the largest city on the planet!" he ordered. "Full speed ahead!"

With that, the Second Conquest of Earth began...

* * *

In a jewelry store, the resident owner was looking, through a magnifying glass, at a large amethyst jewel, set in as the center-piece of a gorgeous silver ring; said ring was currently snug on one of the fingers of Nami's left hand.

"Incredible!" the owner gaped. "I've never seen such amazing beauty and quality in all my years in the jewelry business!" He then got out a calculator and began typing a few keys. When he finished, he held the display up for the others to see. "I'm willing to pay you 10 million yen for that specimen!" he offered.

"That all?" Luffy wondered, glancing at his treasure hunter. She huffed, taking the valued ring off of her finger.

"Just so you know, Luffy, this is only a loan!" she informed her errant captain, holding the ring in question up for emphasis. "You'll be paying me back with interest!"

Luffy merely looked away.

After being paid the offered amount, the pirates walked down the street, Nami fingering through the stack of bills in her hands.

"You know, Nami," Usopp piped up, "I'm pretty sure he doesn't intend on paying you back."

"That's true, Usopp," Vivi interjected.

"Yep, he sure is pretty laid back about these sorts of things," Zoro added. They all stopped when Luffy abrubtly halted (Nami accidentally ran into Luffy when he stopped); he looked at the people all round them, who were looking at them. It was no wonder, what with their style of dress and their unnatural hair colors.

"Well, this is a pretty nice planet," Luffy remarked. "I bet the food is gonna be a real gas, if you catch my drift."

"Let me guess, Luffy: we're gonna go to an all-you-can-eat place so that you can clean 'em out, right?" Usopp surmised.

"Not quite..." Luffy cryptically answered with a slight smirk on his face.

…

Both Usopp and Nami were quite confused, seeing as they were currently sitting in a restaurant known as the Snack Safari, which was apparently known for its curry selection.

"Why this place?" both droned, Usopp resting his head on the table with Nami laying back in her chair.

"I've heard good things about Earth's curry," Luffy answered. "I just want to sample some of it while we're here."

"Knowing you, Luffy, you'll clean this place out in 20 minutes flat," Usopp griped.

"I've never had curry before," said Vivi, who was sitting with Ussop and Nami. "Just look at it as the opportunity to try something new."

"Whatever it's like, it probably can't ever compare to Sanji's cooking," Nami complained, suddenly looking downcast. Sanji, their chef, had been missing ever since their escape from the Endless Ocean. It was a particularly painful topic to bring up, so it was safer to just make casual references to their awol friend.

"OK, so how are we supposed to find One Piece if no one on this god-forsaken rock knows where it is?" Zoro pondered, sitting to Luffy's right at the serving bar.

"Don't be in such a rush, Zoro," Luffy responded. "We really can't do anything on an empty stomach, after all."

"Thank you for waiting!" a man carrying a tray of rice curry announced, coming over to Usopp's table first. "We hope you enjoy our Special Safari Curry!" He then headed behind the bar area to hand Luffy and Zoro their dishes. " I heard that you were out of town, so let me tell you this: before eating, it's always polite around these parts to say 'itadakimasu'. It roughly means, 'thank you for making the meal'."

"I gotta say, this looks delicious!" Nami gushed, picking up her utensils.

"Agreed," Vivi added. "Let's eat!"

"Well, when on Earth..." Luffy told the rest of the group.

"Itadakimasu!" They all said together as they dug in.

Unfortunately for them, not a single morsel of food reached their mouths, owing to the large explosion that had just gone off outside, racing into the restaurant itself. Time seemed frozen in the ruined eatery, broken only by the fluttering of the yen bills, and the dull cries of a frightened people. The plates of curry were nowhere to be seen.

Nami's smile faltered as she looked up at the floating bits of Earth currency. She soon let out a shrill scream. "NOOOOO! MY MONEY!" she cried as she tried to gather it all back up, Usopp holding a shattered store sign in front of him. The group rushed out to see what all the ruckus was about, except for Nami and Luffy. The former was attempting to rescue her money from burning, while the latter merely put down his spoon.

"Hey," Luffy called out to the man who had served them the meal. "What about the curry?"

"I-I-I'm sorry, sir," the man stuttered, holding out his arms in an x-shape, "but I'm a-af-afraid that's not possible right now!"

"Are you for real?" Luffy asked in all seriousness.

"Forget about that, Luffy!" cried Usopp as he came racing back in, shattered sign still in hand. "Come take a look out here!"

Luffy got up off of his stool and, together with Nami, made his way outside. As they looked up into the sky, a large, white spaceship with a pair of horse's heads caught their attention.

"Hey, isn't that...?" asked Nami.

"Yeah, it has to be!" Vivi agreed.

"It's the Gigant Horse!" Usopp shouted.

"The guys we blew away must have been the vanguard," Zoro dryly noted. "And if that monstrosity is here, then we know who's in charge of this invasion operation."

"Oiles Gil, himself," Luffy confirmed. "Looks like the Empire's serious about taking over this planet."

The team looked on as the Zangyakkian cruisers wreaked havoc on the city, firing their beam cannons into crumbling buildings. A stray shot hit the area where the pirates were currently standing; all but Luffy dove for cover as the explosions surrounded them.

"Why here?" Nami demanded as she got back up, looking at the sky above. "Why now?"

"Luffy, what are we gonna do?" Usopp fearfully asked. "We can't search for One Piece like this!"

"Pull yourselves together," Luffy ordered, his gaze unwavering. "We're heading back to the Gokai Galleon."

* * *

The land forces of the Space Empire Zangyakku were broken up into three types of foot-soldiers. The first were the disposable grunts, the Gormins. Colored silver all over with a cylindrical helmet (sloped at the top with triangular eye holes), they carried standard-issue maces which also doubled as RPG launchers. If a Gormin survived long enough and performed exceptionally, they were promoted. A Sugormin was what the lucky Gormin eventually found himself as. Given a new fish-like helmet and large blue arms with claws for hands, these soldiers also had the increased intelligence to match. Because a Gormin rarely survived long enough or performed exceptionally in the eyes of his commander, there weren't as many Sugormins when compared to their lesser counterparts. Even rarer were the Action Commanders. These monstrosities were highly-evolved Sugormins; cyborgs or mutants created from either prisoners of war or the willing; or cloned from the DNA of some of the greatest fighters in the galaxy.

Action Commander Shikabanen was one of the rarer creatures among his brethren; he started out as a lowly Gormin, surviving long enough to become a Sugormin. He slaughtered, evicerated, and decimated enough to catch the eyes of Oiles Gil himself, and (after a lengthy mutation procedure and rehabilitation) was promoted into an Action Commander. In Gil's personal conquests, Shikabanen often led the effort from the front lines, killing to his heart's desire. The only time he stopped was when Gil told him to stop: the monster still owed a debt of gratitude to the first son of the Emperor, after all.

* * *

From the skies above dropped the foot-soldiers of the Empire, having deployed from jettisoned, chained magnets located below the main cannons of the cruisers. As always, Action Commander Shikabanen was among the deployees, consisting almost entirely of Gormins, with the odd Sugormin here and there.

"Master Oiles Gil!" Shikabanen cried. Shikabanen's entire body was mostly colored in a deep navy blue, with orbs of blue energy located on his shoulders and arms. His fin-like head had no obvious eyes, and a a metal grille that covered his mouth. He carried a gun in the same shade with a strip of blue energy located underneath the barrel. "I, Action Commander Shikabanen, am grateful to once again slaughter and kill in your name!" Turning his gun to the side, he opened fire, blue bolts decimating a fortunately-empty building, flames engulfing the side-streets surrounding it. In the ruined war-zone, innocent people screamed in terror, running for their lives. The Gormin charged, their Sugormin overseers walking calmly behind them. The silver soldiers tore into the frightened crowd, not caring if their maces hit the living.

A small number of them jettisoned their RPGs (which also acted as the heads of their maces), hitting cars, buildings, and a small number of people. Among the throngs of the terrified was a kindergarten class out on a field trip, accompanied by their teacher and a chaperone. The small group ducked into an alcove. "It'll be okay," said one of the adults, hoping to restore calm; just then, however, an explosion went off and a body in flames went flying before their eyes. As the body hit the ground, one could tell there was no hope for them. In the wake of the explosion came the monster that had started the mayhem. He glanced to the side and saw the frightened class.

"It's no use running from me!" the monster said evilly as he approached them with gun in hand. The silver soldiers that assisted him in the massacre surrounded the innocent, ensuring no escape.

* * *

Usopp in the lead, the pirates kept on running through the ruined streets. When Vivi heard an evil cackle, however, she stopped and turned in its direction. Luffy, who was right behind her, accidentally bumped into her as she stopped.

"What's up?" he asked her. Zoro, Nami and Usopp doubled back upon seeing two of their group fallen behind. One by one, they all looked at the scene Vivi was seeing; a navy blue Action Commander and his minions having cornered a group of children and their adult caretakers.

"No one runs from us!" the vile creature ordered. He grabbed one of the women by the throat and began squeezing.

"Do what you want with me," the woman choked out, "just let the children go!"

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as he threw her down to the ground and stomped on her head with his feet.

"Now why would I do a dumb-ass thing like that, you idiot?" he crowed as he applied a little more pressure.

The pirates were silent as they watched the scene unfold. Usopp was the first to break the silence.

"Ummm... shouldn't we be going?" he fretfully asked.

"I hate to admit it, but..." Nami piped up. "...this planet might not have a future."

"If that's the case, then it'll just become another part of the Empire's territory," Zoro responded.

"Just like the Endless Ocean..." Vivi added in worry.

Luffy was silent as they continued watching the horrifying events unfold; the Action Commander pointed his gun at each of the terrified faces in his captive audience. "Oh, how I love those fearful faces!" he boasted. "It just makes me wanna kill you all the more! More... show me more!" He then shoved the barrel of his gun into the other adult's face.

"I don't like this..." Luffy muttered, stepping out from behind Vivi. "Not one bit."

Cackling madly, Shikabanen raised his gun. "Thanks for all those wonderful expressions!" he said in absolute glee. Charging his gun, he prepared to fire...

...and a gunshot rang out, but it was not Shikabanen who fired. The shot came from a pistol; the barrel was black, and the handle red. The chamber was decorated by a translucent symbol, that of a pair of cutlasses crossed, with a key on top of them. The one holding said pistol was one Monkey D. Luffy; he and his team-mates walked towards the enemy party, determination etched onto their faces. They came to a stop mere meters away as the Action Commander approached them in a huff.

"Well, well, well... look what the cat dragged in..." he called out. "You're those Gokai Pirates we've been hearing so much about, aren't you? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Who knows?" Luffy responded.

"Wait... I think I get it..." Shikabanen caught on. "You're after some sort of treasure, aren't you? Since you're not my prey this time, I think I'll let you go... so scram!"

"I think you need to shut up, you idiot!" Nami taunted.

"I-Idiot?" the Action Commander balked.

"I think you'll be the one scraming," Zoro smirked.

"And you're in for it if you think I'll listen to anything you have to say," Vivi added.

"That goes double for me," Usopp agreed. "I may be scared of you, but I hate it when the strong bully the weak!"

"Are you nuts?" Shikabanen demanded in frustration. "We're the forces of the mighty Space Empire Zangyakku! Crossing us is a very _bad_ idea!"

"Maybe," Luffy nonchalantly shrugged. "On the other hand, I make the ones I don't like walk the plank!" He then held up the red, pirate-like figurine in his left hand. The others reached into their pockets and drew out similarly-shaped figurines of their own. Zoro's was blue; Nami's yellow, Usopp's green, and Vivi's pink. "After all," Luffy finished with a grin on his face, "we're pirates!"

The figures changed into keys, and all of them brought out a cell phone in their right hands, mostly colored in black with red highlights. Opening them revealed a sort of silver shape acting as the earpiece and phone screen. The bottom had the standard keypad and a strange hole above it. Holding the keys out in front of them, they all cried "_Gokai Change!_" then inserted them into the strange hole. Twisting the keys in the hole, the top split apart so that it resembled a pair of crossed cutlasses and a key symbol; the cross glew their respective colors as they thrust them outwards.

"_GOOOOOOO... KAIGER!_" the phones cried out as three _x_'s and a _v_ emerged from the Mobirates. When the first _x_ hit, the pirate symbol appeared on the now black leotard everyone was inexplicably wearing. The second _x_ created a jacket; the third a face-covering helmet, and the _v_ created a second pirate symbol, this time located on the pirate-hat-like protrusion on their helmets.

"Gokai Red!" cried Luffy's voice, striking a cool pose.

"Gokai Blue!" announced Zoro's voice, placing his thumb and forefinger on his helmet.

"Gokai Yellow!" shouted Nami's voice, placing her right elbow over her left hand.

"Gokai Green!" bellowed Usopp's voice, placing his hands on his hips in a very ridiculous pose.

"Gokai Pink!" Vivi's voice yelled, performing a short little bow.

"Kaizoku Sentai..." Gokai Red began, he and the team striking a joint pose.

"_Gokaiger!_" they all finished.

"Let's make this flashy, nakama," Gokai Red ordered with his standard-issue blade (the Gokai Saber) in hand and firing his standard-issue Gokai Gun at the Gormin surrounding Shikabanen. Rushing into battle, the Gokaigers slashed and shot at the foot-soldiers, remaining spotless while doing so.

"Get them, Gormin!" Shikabanen commanded, still slightly reeling at being shot a second time. Unnoticed behind him, however, the schoolchildren and their chaperone and teacher took refuge behind a wall some ways behind the fight that was currently unfolding.

"No way!" the chaperone muttered. "Could they be the 35th Super Sentai?" The schoolchildren and the teacher looked at her in puzzlement.

* * *

After using a grappling hook installed in the hilt of her Saber, Gokai Pink shot her gun at two Gormin that approached her, kicked a third in the back, then jumped off from a ruined stairway onto a trashed, circular structure, firing on the foot-soldiers below her all the while. When she landed, she let go of the rope and slashed at one of the Gormins on the structure.

Meanwhile, Gokai Yellow ran through the husk of another building, firing on two Gormin and lashed out with her blade at another couple. Taking aim, she fired on a Gormin that had gotten behind her, then rushed to confront the fresh Gormin that raced up to replace the wounded. She opened fire once more on them. "Out of my way!" she yelled, kicking one that had gotten in front of her off of the elevated tier they were fighting on.

Gokai Blue jumped off of the open stairwell he was fighting on to the top of some low-lying rubble, rolling as he hit. Once he got back up, he slashed at a couple of Gormin that followed him, then jumped back down to a nearby car. He rolled off the roof, unleashing more sword slashes as he got on his feet again, firing on the lone Gormin that had just been where he was.

Gokai Green jumped off a maintenance walkway high up off the ground as the Gormin tried to unsuccessfully hit him with their bullets; he managed to latch onto a wire connecting part of that structure to another one, unleashing a slash before bouncing back up due to the wire's tenacity. When he landed and bounced again, he opened fire on the Gormin that surrounded him.

Gokai Red ran into and rebounded off a nearby wall, slicing two Gormin off of a nearby platform, then firing on one in the distance. He sensed the Gormin that had just leapt up behind him, and paid it the proper courtesy with his blade. Another came up to take its place; Gokai Red stabbed then shunted the cannon fodder off. Two more then emerged from behind, forcing Gokai Red off. When they attempted to clobber him from the high ground, he merely blocked their maces with his Gokai Saber, then shot at them with his gun. When they fell, he tossed his sword, which impaled itself in a mook that had attempted to catch Gokai Blue off-guard.

"Yo! Usopp!" Gokai Red called out; at that moment, Gokai Green was currently fighting off more goons in the open ruins of yet another building.

"Uh... right!" he responded, tossing his Saber to Gokai Red. Gokai Blue did the same with his gun. When the gun approached, Gokai Red kicked the gun to Gokai Green's position, catching the sword when his foot returned to ground, which he promptly used to slice the back of a nearby Gormin.

Inexplicably now hanging from a swinging trapeze, Gokai Green caught the flying gun, and promptly took aim. Gokai Blue took the sword impaled in the Gormin and promptly began slicing them to ribbons while Gokai Green fired on some of the ones on a nearby building as he swung towards them. Gokai Blue continued his relentless sword charge through the Gormin ranks, blocking one mace and repaying the favor to the offender. Another set of Gormins fired their RPGs at the blue warrior.

"I may not have three swords to call my own anymore," he snorted as the grenades flew at him, "but that doesn't mean I'm less capable!" Using the swords in his hands, he batted one to the side and sliced through the other two, creating a set of explosions behind him.

After cutting down yet another Gormin and kicking the one behind her in the gut, Gokai Yellow held up her gun. "Vivi!" she called out, tossing said gun to her.

"I got it!" Gokai Pink answered, tossing her sword to Yellow. The two caught their weapons near-simultaneously; Pink struck a pose as Yellow went into a slashing frenzy. Pink hopped up to some more rubble, firing all the while at the Gormin surrounding her. None of them were safe as she twisted her body this way and that, even rolling on the ground to ensure that she could shoot anywhere. Yellow, in the meantime, continued to hack into the horde.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" she boasted; she started swinging her swords out through the grappling hook attachment, which twisted and flew all over, hitting the Gormins at a distance. As the swords returned, she twirled them about in a flashy show of force. The Gormins were not yet beat, having amassed before her; Yellow was soon joined by the others. "Oh, come on!" Yellow whined upon seeing yet more Gormin. "These guys just don't know when to give up!"

"Then I guess we'll have to pull _that_ out," Red responded.

"_That_, huh?" Blue agreed.

"Oh yeah, _that_ that!" Green caught on.

"No prob!" Yellow confirmed.

"Let's do it!" Vivi answered, making the motion unanimous.

"Heh," Red let out before pressing a button on his golden belt buckle; a hidden revolving door revealed another red figurine, which looked like a strange jumpsuit with a yellow v-shape on its chest, and it had blue eyes for a visor. The others did the same thing, and their figurines looked like they belonged with the first. Just as before, they transformed into keys with a flick of their fingers. The team once more brought out their Mobirates, and with a shout of "_Gokai Change!_" they inserted the keys into the phone's keyhole and twisted, the top once again changing into their team symbol.

This time, differently colored curtains of light covered them as they spun on the spot; the Mobirates called out "_GOOOOOOO... RANGER!_" When the lights faded, the Gokaigers were not standing there. Instead, in the same colors, but looking much older were a ranger that had goggles as a visor, one whose visor was shaped like an arrow pointing upwards, one that had an oval-shaped visor, one with a v-shaped visor, and one whose visor was pink and shaped like a heart. The last also appeared to be wearing earings. They also all sported capes of their respective colors, and all had v's on their chests that represented their numerical designations: Red was 1, Blue was 2, Yellow was 3, Green was 5 and Pink was 4. They all posed, placing their right hands, palms out and fingers spread in front of them.

The kindergarteners, having watched all the while, gaped at the appearance of these new warriors. "Teacher," one asked, "who are they?"

"They were the first Super Sentai to ever be formed!" the teacher answered.

"Himitsu Sentai Goranger, right?" the chaperone wondered; after all, the Super Sentai were said to have lost their powers in the Legend War. "But how is that possible?"

Pink spun around, holding a multi-colored football adorned with stars and in front of her with four fins on one end.

"Let's use the Goranger Hurricane!" Vivi's voice called out.

"Yeah, what better way for trashy scum like these guys to leave in than a garbage truck?" Luffy's voice responded. "Ready? Goranger Hurricane, go!"

Red, Green, Blue and Yellow rushed into battle with the Gormins while Pink stayed behind with the ball, charging it with her energies. "Usopp!" she called out after finishing, tossing it to him in the heat of battle.

"Got it!" he replied as he kicked it around in the air, fighting off the tin cans in the process. "Nami!" he shouted as he passed by Yellow after placing his energy in the ball. She too kicked it around some, charging it with her energy.

"Zoro!" she called, kicking the ball high up into the air. Blue jumped up and caught it. He then flipped multiple times in the air before landing. Holding out the ball in front of him with both hands, he cried, "Luffy!"

"Right!" Red yelled as he leapt through the air, face forward and arms spread. He then re-positioned his body so that, with a cry of "Endball!" he kicked the football; the fins on the bottom expanded, the ball itself having been filled to the brim with Ranger energy. When the ball hit the ground, it let of a flash of light that was soon transformed into a green-and-white garbage truck. The Gormins, curious as to the device's nature, inched closer. The truck's wast processing machinery activated. In another flash of light, the truck miraculously vacuumed up the Gormin that surrounded it. When it was done, the truck drove off into nothingness. Red landed, looking to his right, saw more Gormin rushing towards them, with the Sugormin entering the melee.

"How many of these things do they have?" Blue asked in annoyance.

Red's only response (after dodging a blow from a Sugormin) was to hold up another figurine. This one looked like it was wearing a set of Japanese samurai clothing, its head decorated with the Japanese kanji for fire. The Rangers group together, back facing back. With another cry of "_Gokai Change!_" they turned the samurai keys, once again activating the Mobirates. It cried out, "_SHIIIIIIIN... KENGER!_" as the Japanese kanji for fire, water, wood, earth and heaven shot out from each of the five, repelling an oncoming Gormin/Sugormin attack. The kanji wrapped around their helmets, once again changing their suits in a flash of multi-colored light. The Gokaigers, now masquerading as a sort of samurai sentai, unsheathed their katanas and tore into the horde.

Slashing their way past, they once again brought out their Mobirates and more figurines, each with a different part of an animal on the helmets. Once more shouting "_Gokai Change!_" they turned the keys in the phone's locks. The phones shouted, "_MAAAAAAA... GIRANGER!_" causing mystical seals to descend through their bodies. Now looking like suited magicians with helmets, they turned around (throwing their capes for emphasis) to face their enemies. They raised their magical staffs, the tops of which looked like over-large _M_'s and shouted, "_Gii Magika!_" creating tornadoes of fire, thunder, water, wind and earth which swept away those Gormin and Sugormin still standing. In the end, only Shikabanen was left, calmy walking towards the false mages.

"Quite the little performance you've put on," he taunted before raising his gun, "but I'm afraid you won't be getting a curtain call." Tilting his head, he charged his weaponry (the gun and the missle pods hidden throughout) with the phazon coursing through his body; phazon was a potent energy source that the Empire was currently experimenting with. "As they say in show-biz, that's a wrap!" He then fired everything, which hit the team with a mighty explosion; Red's magic staff flew through the air...

...which transformed back into his standard-issue Gokai Saber; Gokai Red caught it as he descended from his leap with a fierce war cry, and the other pirates followed suit. With a flurry of slashes, Blue, Green and Red raced past while Yellow and Pink remained in front. Red spun back around to deliver another slash. His third slice was swiftly blocked by one of the Action Commander's forearms, but Red just as quickly planted his heel in the monster's chest and pushed, sending him to the ground. While he was down, Green and Blue rejoined their friends.

"Let's finish him," Gokai Red ordered, receiving confirmation from the others. By pressing a button on the front of the Gokai Sabers' hilt, a hidden mechanism which contained a lock popped out. Proceeding to press the buttons on top of their golden belt buckles, the Gokaigers proceeded to insert their very own Ranger Keys in the locks. After turning them, they pushed the lock chamber with key inserted back into the flat side of their weapons, the large Gokai Symbols on the sides of the hilt beginning to glow red, blue, yellow, green, and pink, soon cycling back to red. The blades themselves began glowing in their respective colors as a voice not unlike the Mobirates' own called out "_FINAL WAAAAAAAVE!_"

By this point, Shikabanen had gotten back to his feet; it was too late as the Gokaigers slashed through the air, the energy from the blades creating waves that sliced through the monster's body. Action Commander Shikabanen crackled with sparks as, with a scream, he collapsed to the ground and exploded. In victory, Gokai Red wiped his blade and let out a satisfied _hmph_.

* * *

"Now we've done it," Nami whined, sitting on some rubble after the battle. "If the Empire didn't consider us enemies before, then they sure will now."

"True enough," Zoro calmly replied.

"No way!" Usopp yelled, frantically moving about.

"I wonder what we'll do now..." Vivi wondered worringly. Luffy had come back from the short walk he took during the battle. When Usopp saw, he rushed towards his captain.

"Things have really taken a turn for the worse, Luffy!" the long-nosed gunman yelled in the captain's ear. "We need to get off this planet, now! Just... forget about One Piece!"

Luffy only grabbed Ussop's nose, having noticed someone behind him: it was the kindergarteners the team had inadvertently saved before the battle began. When Luffy turned around, the others took notice.

"What is it?" Vivi sweetly asked as she approached.

"Thank you!" the boy in front honestly and earnestly said. Needless to say, the pirates had been taken aback by such an open show of gratitude.

"Yes, thanks to you, we're all safe," the chaperone elaborated. Luffy blinked, then let go of Usopp's nose turning his back on the children. He then walked away.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro clarified before he too began walking away.

"We're space pirates," Nami added. "We're just here for One Piece. Nothing more, nothing less." She was the third to walk away.

"If that's the case, then why did you fight them?" the teacher asked. "Was it for us?"

"Well, you see..." Vivi began, struggling for words. This brought the other three to a halt. It was Luffy who turned around and answered.

"Curry..." was the answer that came out of his mouth. Upon seeing the confused expressions on their faces, he decided to elaborate. "Those guys ruined our lunch, and if there's one thing I hate, it's not getting something to eat." With that, he resumed walking away. Nami and Zoro followed him, leaving Usopp and Vivi to finish up.

"That's why you don't really need to thank us," Usopp softly concluded before racing off to join the others. Vivi gave a short bow to the class before she too went to rejoin her friends.

The class just watched their saviors walk off into the distance, wondering if they really were heroes...

* * *

**A/N: **And that's chapter 1 of my new fanfic! I needed a creative break from writing Zangetsu (chapter 5 is still being written, so hang in there) and that's why this document exists. I drew inspirations from Kamen Rider Chrome and Rider Paladin, who pioneered the use of anime protagonists as toku heroes, and to TVTropes for helping me come up with the concept. Until next time... Let's Gokaiger!


	2. The Worth of This Planet

…_As of the writing in this journal entry, no concrete origin for the mystical items known better as the Devil Fruits have surfaced or been made apparent, and I lack the necessary data to form a hypothesis on my own. Nevertheless, Devil Fruits, once consumed, give its user extraordinary abilities. For example, the Chop-Chop Fruit allows the user to split his or her body parts into different pieces, and also grants them immunity from being cut with bladed weapons. On the other hand, Devil Fruits such as the Flame-Flame Fruit allow its user to transform into different environmental elements. In the aforementioned case, the user can transform parts or all of his body into fire at will. I fully intend to research the effects of the Devil Fruits and apply them to our troops… after some slight modifications, of course, and perhaps after our conquest of the Endless Ocean…_

_-From the private scientific journals of Development Technical Officer Insaan Wires. Dated approx. two months before the Invasion of the Endless Ocean._

* * *

Imbedded in a wall was a safe with a keypad lock. A certain person walked up to it and inputted the code _010175_, which caused a visible clunking sound. Knowing that the safe had been unlocked, the man turned the handle, revealing the contents inside to be… something with no monetary value, but great emotional value to the person who owned this safe. As he looked upon it, he took in its appearance. Despite its age and the fact that it had to be patched up numerous times, the old hat still held together fairly well. Its wide brim was still crisp and flat, and the red band of fabric that wrapped around above said brim was still as vibrant as ever. It served a two-fold purpose: first, to remind him of the old promise that had been made between him and the man he held in high regard. Secondly, it was a silent vow that, although he wouldn't meet him again, he would still at least complete a part of that promise. At the very most, the safe was open for five minutes. Then, the man sighed as he closed the safe. When he heard a click, he knew that the safe was once more locked.

After hanging the painting that normally concealed the safe from view back up, Monkey D. Luffy turned his back on it. Hauling his heavy red jacket over his right shoulder, he turned off the lights and closed the door behind him.

* * *

After typing in a few keys on the touchpad in front of him, Usopp pulled up a tactical map af the area between the Earth and its orbiting moon. It showed something unsettling: the fleet Oiles Gil had brought with him was currently holding its position at almost the smack-dab middle of the screen, or rather they were equidistant between the Earth and the moon.

"They're not budging an inch," observed Usopp. "Looks like Gil's in this for the long haul."

"Why can't they invade some other planet instead?" Nami, also looking at the map, irately demanded.

"Bwaark! What to do, what to do? What would you do?" Navi chanted as he sat perched upon the captain's chair.

"I can't see these people living in peace as long as the Zangyakku are here," Vivi added in worry, looking up from her teacup. "We should do something."

"True! Very true!" Navi chirped.

"It's not our concern," Zoro stated, sitting on the couch and playing a game of solitare on the nearby coffee table.

"Zoro's got a point," Nami agreed, heading over to Zoro. "The only thing that's of our concern is One Piece. I just hope the Zangyakku don't get in the way too much."

"We'll deal with it if the time comes," Luffy's voice rang out; he had just come down from the captain's room, his heavy jacket hitched over his right shoulder. "The sooner we find One Piece, the sooner we can get off this planet. Speaking of," he stated, turning towards their robotic navigator, "I think it's time for some fortune-telling, birdie."

"Bwaark! I'm not a bird!" Navi objected. "I'm Navi! No more, no less! Besides, you didn't say the magic word!"

"Alright… pleeeeeease give us a fortune?" Luffy sweetly asked, holding his left hand out as if in prayer.

"That's better," Navi accepted as he spread his wings out to the side. Everyone gathered around the captain's chair as Navi's eyes began flashing through different neon colors. "Let's Treasure Navigate!" he cried out before rocketting straight up… and inadvertantly smashed his tiny head on the ceiling above. "_A person in black clothes will tell you something very interesting…_" he said in a dazed voice as he drifted down back to his former position on the backrest of the captain's chair. "That's all!" he then announced as he landed.

"Excuse me?" Zoro deadpanned in disbelief.

"Talk about vague," Nami commented.

"Well, we don't have any other leads…" Usopp started, unsure of the fortune that had just been given.

"Still, how many people in black clothes could there be?" Vivi wondered.

* * *

At that precise moment, a boy wearing a black schoolboy's uniform was looking upon the red spaceship currently floating above one of the city's waterfronts. Though his head and face were obscured by the helmet he wore, an observant individual would be able to see through the opaque visor and look upon his grey eyes. After about five minutes, he narrowed his eyes. He then kicked up the stand for his motorcycle and drove off towards the bridge the alien galleon was floating close to.

* * *

**For years, the 34 Super Sentai have fought off much evil in order to protect the smiles of the people. Though they lost their powers fighting against the Space Empire Zangyakku, that power did not disappear completely, for they have been inherited by five fugitives hailing from a world of endless ocean! They are…!**

**KAIZOKU SENTAI GOKAIGER**

**~IN ONE PIECE~**

**EPISODE 2: YOU DON'T DESERVE THAT POWER! THE WORTH OF THIS PLANET**

* * *

Arriving at a park of sorts, the Gokai Pirates took in their surroundings, looking for the propheized man in black.

"Looks like this is a major gathering place for these Earthlings," Nami commented as she looked around.

"I spy with my little eye someone wearing black clothing…" Usopp muttered as he turned his head that way and this. "There he is!" Usopp cried, spotting a businessman near a bench, talking on his cell phone.

"There she is!" Nami cried out at the same time, pointing to a woman in a black dress walking down below.

"Wait, what?" the two of them plus Vivi gaped together as more people in black clothes passed by: schoolgirls, musicians, random passer-by, even nuns and what looked like a stagehand. Even secret agent men trooped on by, either not noticing or uncaring about the presence of the space pirates.

At the end of it all, Nami's and Usopp's eyes had transformed into swirls, unable to process the information.

"They're all wearing black…" Vivi observed, stating the obvious. Luffy leaned back on the upper level's railing, his exact thoughts unknown to anyone but himself.

"Wonder what's up with that?" he said with a wry note of amusement in his voice.

"Hey!" a voice behind and below Luffy's position called out: he turned around to see a black-clothed schoolboy standing and staring up at them. The boy had spikey black hair (with some fantastic spikey sideburns to go with it) with grey eyes, and his voice sounded not exactly like a street punk's, but rather like someone who had been through a few scrapes with the local delinquents. "You're those Gokai Pirates, right?" he asked.

"Who wants to know?" Luffy queried.

"Oh, nobody," the boy shrugged, "just the guy who knows where you can find One Piece."

Those words quickly got the pirates' attention; after all, the boy was wearing black clothing and claimed to know where One Piece was. Perhaps this was the person that Navi spoke of?

Luffy looked at the boy with shining eyes, an amused smirk on his face. "Why don't we talk this over, Mr…?"

"Kabuto," the boy replied. "Kouji Kabuto. Don't you forget it!"

* * *

"For space pirates, you sure are amazing! I mean, your last fight..." Kouji gushed as the gathering walked down one of the piers at the local harbor. Kouji had chosen the harbor as a meeting place, seeing as it was part of his regular stomping grounds, as it were, and he had brought along his motorcycle, "just in case," he claimed.

"You were watching, huh?" Zoro observed.

"Yup, I saw you transforming into those other Super Sentai!" the boy revealed.

"Super... Sentai?" Nami questioned. "What's that?"

"Huh?" Kouji face-faulted. He got up and looked at the pirates in exasperation. "You mean you don't know who they were?" The others just looked as though they were lost. Kouji sighed. "Himitsu Sentai Goranger, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, Mahou Sentai Magiranger," he listed off the top of his head. "And those are just some of the Earth's legendary heroes."

"You mean…" Luffy elaborated, holding up the MagiRed, ShinkenRed and Akaranger keys. "…these, right?" Kouji nodded.

"Those powers…" Vivi wondered, "…they belong to the ones who protected this planet?"

"In any case, back to business," Luffy stepped in, still holding the three keys. "Where's One Piece?"

"Well… umm…" Kouji stuttered, engaging the kick-stand on his bike. "B-before we get to that, Luffy, do you mind if I take a picture with you?"

"I don't have any problem, but why?" he asked.

"To commemorate our meeting, of course!" Kouji explained as he dug his camera out of his pocket. "You think you can pose for me?"

"How about this?" Luffy asked as he posed, phone held at his side and holding the ShinkenRed key out in front of him.

"Perfect! D'you think you can you come closer?" requested Kouji; Luffy did as he was asked. "Closer… closer… OK!" His hand then shot towards the key… but before he could grab it, Luffy held his wrist in a vice-grip and had his arm pinned against his back. "Hey!"

"Did you try to take something that didn't belong to you?" asked Luffy, eyes narrowed.

"You don't deserve that power, dumb-ass! It's the power that came from Earth, so it should be used to protect Earth!" the kid shouted at Luffy. "No-good pirates like you shouldn't be using it!" Kouji began struggling mightily; Luffy thought he felt something brush up against him, but was more concerned with containing the hoodlum at the moment. Kouji managed to break free, stumbling into Usopp (and knocking him down) in the process. "If you honestly thought that I knew anything about this 'One Piece', then you're bigger saps than I thought!" Turning the key in the ignition and jamming his helmet onto his head, Kouji motored off on his bike, leaving the five pirates behind with a cloud of exahust in his wake.

"Guess we've gotta keep our guards up, even on a backwater planet like this," Luffy smugly surmised. "Thankfully, I never let my guard down!" he added with a goofy grin.

"I beg to differ," Zoro deadpanned. Luffy shot him a questioning look before he added, "Check your inner coat pockets."

"My inner pockets?" Luffy inquired as his hands dove in. "Why, would-?" That was as far as he went as his left hand felt something off in his inner right coat-pocket. Pulling the figurines out of said pocket, he took a close look before realizing that one of them – the Tyrannoranger Key – was missing. Apparently, the two-bit delinquent had snatched it during their brief struggle. "That little…" he growled as he shoved the keys back into his pocket. "One of the things I really hate are landlubber bandits, and it really chaps my boots to know I was hoodwinked by one of them!"

"What, and you haven't been hoodwinked by them already?" Zoro rhetorically asked.

"I'm gonna keel-haul that brat!" Luffy announced, apparently not hearing Zoro. He headed on past Usopp (being knocked back down to the ground after just getting back up) to chase his new quarry.

"Wait, Luffy! You shouldn't do something like that!" Vivi cried as she hopped over Usopp, chasing after the incensed captain. Zoro, Nami and Usopp made no attempt to follow the princess.

* * *

Back aboard the Gigant Horse, Oiles Gil was nervously pacing back and forth in front of his command podium. It seemed as though the fugitive gnats meant to make themselves sworn enemies of the Empire… his father's empire! There had to be something for him to do… something would do!

"Your Highness," Damaras addressed, "what are your plans now that the Gokai Pirates have dealt us quite the blow?"

"Shut up, _shut up_, SHUT UP!" Oiles frantically screamed. "Isn't that next Action Commander ready yet?"

"Aww, why the frowny face, Your Highness?" a screechy voice from behind him asked. Oiles whipped his head around to look at the new arrival: mostly made out of balls and colored with bright reds, yellows, and blues, his chalk-white head had two horns on the side that also seemed to be made out of balls. His face had a rather large red nose on it, and his eyes and mouth seemed more painted-on than they were a real part of his body. Finally, a large white ruff was wrapped around his neck, and smaller such ruffs wrapped around his ankles and wrists. Overall, he looked like a strange alien clown. "Action Commander Bararasu will turn that frown upside-down!" he claimed while saluting in his own strange way.

Oiles was silent for a moment. "Insaan, I assume you called him?" he addressed, turning to said mad scientist behind him. The irritation was clearly heard in his voice.

"Yes," she sultry confirmed, straightening up from a Gormin's command console. "He has quite a few things that make him valuable to send out on a test run. I assure you, you won't be disappointed."

Oiles stroked his chin in thought. "Barizorg?" he asked, turning towards the cyborg.

"**CONCUR,**" he replied. "**WITH BARARASU'S UNIQUE POWERS, WE WILL BE ABLE TO EASILY CONQUER THIS PLANET**."

"In that case... go out and have some fun, Bararasu!" Oiles commanded.

"I'll have them all in stitches by the time I'm done!" Bararasu boasted, trooping out the door.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, however, Damaras was deep in thought. From what intel they had gathered, the Royal Intelligence Service (RIS) determined that the old Straw-Hat Pirates were sailing the Endless Ocean's Grand Line in search of a great treasure. It would thus be a perfect motive for why the Gokai Pirates were on Earth in the first place. Still, that didn't answer what exactly they were up to planetside… nor the exact identity of the treasure they were searching for, if that was indeed why they were there. "Perhaps… we'll need to send _him_…" he mused silently.

* * *

Luffy continued walking down the streets of the city the locals called Tokyo. Hearing footsteps behind him, he shot a glance to see Vivi keeping pace with him. He re-doubled his pace, but the hearing he had acquired after such a long stint as a pirate, in space or no, told him that Vivi was still managing to keep up. He stopped to address her. "Why are you following me, Vivi?" he demanded.

"Frankly, I'm worried," Vivi admitted. "I just want to know what you'll do to Kouji when you catch him."

"You've known me for quite some time now," Luffy shrugged off. "I think you know what I'm gonna do."

"I thought I knew…" Vivi muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" her captain swiftly asked.

"I-I'm following you because I can't tell what it is you want to do," Vivi answered, covering up her whispered concern.

"Whatever," Luffy rolled his eyes, walking off. "Do what you want."

_You weren't always like this, Luffy,_ Vivi thought to herself as she hurried off after him.

* * *

"Heh," Zoro chuckled to himself as he, Nami, and Usopp waited at the docks. "I think Luffy's taken a shine to that kid."

"Hmm?" Usopp asked, turning his head up to face Zoro from his sitting position on the ground. "What makes you say that? From what I saw, he was livid!"

"To me… it seemed as though Luffy wasn't even trying to stop the kid from pickpocketing him," Nami mused.

"I think it also helps that there are so many similarities between the two," Zoro added. "To a point, they're both pretty dense. But both of them seem to have that firey spirit that was so rare on our world. If that kid was born on the Endless Ocean, it wouldn't surprise me if he had the middle initial of D."

* * *

Hiding near a wooden street stairwell, Kouji fingered the red figurine he had purloined from that selfish space pirate. Perhaps with this…

"Hey! Kabuto!" a familiar voice rang out from up above. Kouji looked up to see Captain Luffy standing on the railing of the balcony, the pink-clothed chick following closely behind him behind said railing. Luffy jumped down to face him, holding his hand out as if expecting something. "I think it's time you gave back that key you took from me."

"Why should I?" Kouji demanded, backing away slightly. "If you don't plan on protecting the Earth, then what good are you?"

"Wrong answer," Luffy commented as he walked towards Kouji. By this point, Vivi had made her way down the stairs to where the two boys were arguing.

"I told you before, these originally belonged to Earth!" Kouji yelled. "Better for us Earthlings to protect our own world than rely on flaky guys like you! That's why I'll never give it back!"

Luffy merely smirked. "That was then, this is now. That key belongs to me, and I want it back. We were entrusted with those keys, and when that happened, they became ours." He turned away from Kouji. "I need them to keep a couple of promises."

"Why the hell should I care?" Kouji argued. "Besides… I have a reason to fight the Zangyakku too!"

That caught the other two's attention; Luffy simply looked bemused. Vivi looked at Kouji in confusion. "Impossible…" she muttered.

"Interesting…" Luffy mused, turning his back on Kouji. "Why do you want to fight them so badly?"

"It's…" he hesitated momentarily. "It's because of my grandfather. He was a world-famous scientist, a pioneer in the field of energy… but that changed when the Zangyakku attacked us… when the Legend War began a few years ago. He was one of the first casualties." He took a deep breath. "He died protecting me and my little brother."

Luffy didn't turn around, absorbed as he was in his own memories of Zangyakkian invasion…

* * *

_Fire spread all around Whiskey Peak as metal soldiers terrorized the bounty hunters stationed there by Baroque Works. A strange white snow fell from the night sky, strange because there were no clouds that night. Luffy attempted to use his Gomu-Gomu techniques to even the odds… but no matter how much he tried, his arms and legs would not stretch. It was as though he was never a rubberman in the first place._

_All around, his friends, even one who, until a few hours ago, had been one of their enemies, fell one by one to the relentless onslaught. Nami's Clima-Tact was snapped cleanly in two… Usopp's slingshot was lost in the flames… Zoro's three swords were cut cleanly down to the handle… The metal soldiers surrounded them. Then, a large explosion opened a gap. A man, clothed in red and carrying a large treasure chest, ran into the circle, his face obscured by a red helmet. On his chest was the number 35._

"_Quick!" he yelled, taking the chest off his back and shoving it into Luffy's hands. "Take this and go! Your journey for One Piece, the greatest treasure in the universe, has just begun! Follow the flying robot: he will show you where to go!" He got back up, taking out a red sword. "Do not worry about me… I will lay down my life to protect you!" With a loud war-cry, the red-clad warrior jumped into the fray, disappearing in the sweltering heat of the flames…_

* * *

Luffy came back out of that hellish memory just as Kouji spoke up again. "I don't want anyone else to go through what I did…" he elaborated sadly; Luffy turned back around to face Kouji in the eyes. "I don't want them to see anyone die in front of them."

All parties were quiet for a while as the words sunk in.

Then, a large rumbling overhead foretold the arrival of another Zangyakkian detachment, most likely also carrying an Action Commander. Indeed, the multicolored freak was seen deploying with the regular troops. Kouji rushed on ahead at the sight, leaving his motorcycle nearby behind.

"Wait!" Vivi cried out before she went chasing after him.

* * *

Zoro, Nami and Usopp also saw the ships in the sky from the docks.

"Well, we knew they weren't likely to give up so easily," Zoro dryly commented.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Usopp whimpered, cowering slightly behind Zoro; Nami smacked Usopp in the face before turning to Zoro.

"We should go and find Luffy and Vivi," she suggested, taking his hand. "I'll navigate; you'll just end up hopelessly lost as usual."

* * *

The Gormins landed on solid concrete, Bararasu following right behind them. The people panicked as the faceless goons marched forward, creating chaos and destruction wherever they went. Bararasu raised his right arm, signaling to the two Sugormins that had just landed behind him. Swiftly, the two constructed a strange sort of cannon, mounting it over his left shoulder. One of them inserted a red cannonball into the opening, then stood off to the side and saluted. Bararasu stroked his chin while looking around at the buildings. Pointing his cannon at one of them, he pulled the trigger. The pseudo-bazooka fired the cannonball into one of the nearby skyscrapers, creating a rather large explosion.

"What a riot! What a gas!" Bararasu whooped as his cannon was quickly reloaded. "This is the best show I've ever put on!" He continued firing after every re-load, cackling madly all the while.

The people, running from the explosions and falling debris, were also cut down by the Gormins, whose mace handles also served as rifles. Even though the attack had just begun, there were already numerous casualties.

This was the scene Kouji and Vivi happened upon as they arrived, with innocent civilians being mercilessly pummeled or gunned down. Bararasu was seen walking around, still cackling in insanity. The hand that Kouji had the Tyrannoranger key in tightened in frustration.

"This is… too cruel…" Vivi said to herself. Kouji could only look on in horror as a powerless bystander. All of a sudden, something black was shoved in front of him: it looked like a cell phone, and it was being held by none other than Luffy.

"You want to fight, right?" Luffy asked. Kouji nodded. "In that case, I'll make you a deal. If you can beat all of them, then you can keep that key."

"Luffy!" Vivi shouted in exasperation.

"If not," Luffy continued, not hearing the former princess, "then I keep it. How about it?"

"Luffy, you can't be seriously gambling that thing on a wager?" Vivi demanded as Kouji looked at the phone. After a short time, Kouji took it and stepped forward. He opened the phone and changed the Tyrannoranger figurine into its key form, the symbol on top depicting a tyrannosaurus, pterodactyl, triceratops, saber-toothed tiger, and wooly mammoth. He inserted the key into the slot above the keypad, and twisted.

"_ZYUUUUUUU… RANGER!_" the device announced, a red grid transposing itself over the boy's body before solidifying into a boy-sized red suit. The gloves and boots were white, with red triangle detailings around the cuffs. A white diamond was present over the predominantly red suit's chest and back. The helmet was red as well, with teeth-like detailing around the visor and overall ornamentation looking like a tyrannosaurus' head.

"I…" Kouji sputtered holding his now gloved hands out in front of him and flexing them. "I… transformed!" He then looked at the Gormins with a look of determination hidden behind his helmet. "Let's get started! _Ryugekiken!_" he shouted, a broadsword with an elaborate red hilt appearing in his right hand in a flash of light. With a loud war-cry, he rushed forward.

"Stop!" Vivi shouted, intending to rush after him. Luffy, however, caught her arm to hold her back.

"Don't," he simply ordered. Vivi looked at him, frustration swimming in her eyes. She then looked back at the battle.

Using the broadsword, Kouji struck out at the Gormin, the experience and wisdom within the key granting him the power to fight the grunts effectively. Reposte, dodge, parry, strike… Kouji had never taken a single kendo class before, and yet here he was, wielding a blade that was almost certainly very heavy due to the metal, as though it were made out of thin air.

"Do you honestly think he can do it?" Vivi asked Luffy in concern.

"We'll see," he answered.

"What do you mean by that?" she demanded in turn.

"Hey! What's going on?" Nami's voice asked from their left; she, Zoro and Usopp had managed to re-unite with their friends. "Who's that?"

"It's Kouji," Vivi revealed. "Luffy said that he could keep the Ranger Key he stole if he could beat this detachment of Zangyakku troops."

"What were you smoking, Luffy?" Usopp asked incredulously. "He's only an Earthling!"

"That's our Luffy: stupidly reckless to the extreme," Zoro deadpanned.

After cutting down the last Gormin, Kouji made a beeline for the commander, expecting him to be just as easy as his flunkies. He slashed; Bararasu caught the blade with the backside of his right hand with no visible effort.

"Oh, goodie!" he cackled. "A new plaything!" Batting the sword aside, he threw a nasty punch at Kouji's head, sending him stumbling to the ground. Kouji quickly got up to try again, but Bararasu kneed him in the gut and elbowed him back to the dirt. After stomping on his back a couple of times, the mad clown picked Kouji back up for a couple more knees to the gut, then batted him aside. Kouji again attempted to strike, but a punch to the gut stopped him cold. Bararasu then kicked him hard enough to send him flying to a nearby rooftop. With mad laughter, Bararasu leapt up and approached his quarry slowly. Kouji, in fear, attempted to back away slowly, only for his feet to meet the edge.

"That was a lot of fun! Bye-bye!" the monster crowed as he smacked Kouji with enough force to smash him into the side of another near-by building; Kouji fell to the ground hard, the Mobirates and Tyrannoranger Key separated from him through the impact. Vivi widened her eyes in fear as Kouji underwent an involuntary power-down. Once again chuckling madly, Bararasu skipped away in glee.

Vivi, followed by Usopp and the others, ran to Kouji's side. "Kouji, are you alright?" the princess asked.

"Yeah, I'll live," Kouji grunted. "Damn… looks like… I'm just not strong enough… to protect Earth…"

"Hope you understand now," Luffy called out as he retrieved his Mobirates and Ranger Key. "If you want to protect this planet, then find another way to do it."

"And you got an idea as to how?" Kouji snarked.

"How should I know?" Luffy commented. "That's something you'll have to figure out yourself." Luffy took a couple of paces forward before stopping. "Kabuto… is this planet really worth protecting?"

"Of course it is!" Kouji shouted.

"Really?" Luffy wondered. "Which part?"

"You've got to be kidding me…" Kouji shook his head. "How should I know? That's something you'll have to figure out for yourselves!"

_You're spunky, kid. I like spunk._ With a rare, sincere smile, Luffy walked off, his crew-mates following him. "Later!" he called out as they ran away.

* * *

In the warehouse district of the city, Bararasu continued firing off cannonballs, having attatched a rapid reloading mechanism to his weapon. He cackled in perverse glee as the workers ran in terror from him and his troops. All around him, motor vehicles were swiftly transformed into wrecks and buildings partly collapsed. The company came to a halt as they heard echoing footsteps; turning their heads to the right, they saw the Gokai Pirates confidently walking towards them.

"Ah-ha! If it ain't the Gokai Pirates! What are you doing here, I wonder?" Bararasu crowed.

Luffy opened his Mobirates while still looking the monster clown in the eyes. "Just lookin' for something." Holding up his key, his companions soon did the same.

"_Gokai Change!_" they called out, inserting the keys into the keyholes of the phones.

"_GOOOOOOO… KAIGER!_" the phones called out; as before the fancy lightshow involving the Roman numeral XXXV changed the five into their Ranger uniforms.

"Gokai Red!"

"Gokai Blue!"

"Gokai Yellow!"

"Gokai Green!"

"Gokai Pink!"

"Kaizoku Sentai…"

"_Gokaiger!_"

With a flurry of motion, Gokai Red drew his Gokai Gun and twirled it around his finger. After taking out his Gokai Saber, his teammates did the same, albeit without all the fancy gunplay. "Let's make this flashy, nakama!" Red ordered as he opened fire on the Gormin surrounding Bararasu.

"Is this some sort of joke!-?" Bararasu shouted in shock. "'Cause I'm not laughing! Gormin!" The Gormin rushed forward, only run into a hailstorm of bullets fired by the entire team. The Gokaigers rushed into the troupe of Gormin, slashing at them with their swords in the process. Red cut one to ribbons while firing on another in the distance as Blue climbed up some nearby stairs. He rolled as he hit the top, stabbing the Gormin in front of him and bodily rammed it into another one behind him.

On his left side some ways away, Pink was also engaging the footsoldiers, shooting her firearm twice; once behind, then once in front. Both continued tearing into them with ease. "Vivi!" Blue shouted out, sliding his Gokai Gun to her.

"Right!" she responded, catching the gun with her foot, then tossing her sword. For no reason other than some sort of rule of cool, Pink's Gokai Saber flew around the Gormin surrounding Blue, before he caught it in his outstretched left hand. Pink opened fire (deploying some impressive aerobatics in the process) while Blue continued slashing the Gormin to ribbons.

Yellow slashed a footsoldier in front of her, then shot at one behind, while on the other side of the structure, Green was not faring that badly against his foes, lightly stabbing or shooting where appropriate. A quadruplet of Gormin fired their rifles at him, forcing Green over the railing, landing clumsily on the pavement below.

"Usopp!" Yellow called out, twirling the gun in her hand before tossing it to him. Hastily stuffing his sword under his left arm, Green caught the gun with his now-free hand. He then kicked the sword up to Yellow's position, who then caught it in her free hand. "Nice one!" she praised while hacking the Gormin to bits with her two sabers.

"Stop, drop, and roll!" Green muttered as he rolled on the ground, covered by a rolling red barrel in front of him. Getting up into a kneel, he fired both guns into a group of similarly colored barrels. It seemed they were of the exploding variety, as they went up with a large *BOOM*, taking the Gormin surrounding them with it.

Red, still on the ground floor of the battle, slashed the Gormins foolish enough to charge him, and even kicked one that got a little too close for comfort. He twirled around, unleashing a slash as soon as his stance was stable, then squeezed off a shot to a footsoldier on his right. While he was busy with another, Red nonetheless noticed three Sugormins rapidly approaching, who opened fire; Red merely used the Gormin he was grappling with as a meat shield. After it dropped, Red fired on the lead Sugormin (the latter of which was charging) before doing the same to its companions.

Re-uniting with his teammates, he slammed the buttons on the sword and gun together, causing the grey cylinders to pop up on both weapons; the action was copied by the rest of the crew. Red then jammed the bottom of his hilt to the button on top of the Gokai Belt, activating its hidden storage feature. As one, the Gokaigers placed their keys into both weapons by throwing said keys into the air. The mechanisms were then locked back into place by pushing the chambers against each other. Glowing, the weapons yelled "_FINAL WAAAAAAAVE!_" Pink and Green opened fire on the Sugormin to the right; Blue and Yellow unleashed vicious slashes on the one to the left. Red fired, then set off a sword-wave, the latter action combining with the former. The attack wasted the last Sugormin in the center, all three blowing up near-simultaneously.

In the silence that followed, a slow clapping echoed ominously.

"Not bad… not bad at all…" crowed Bararasu as he slowly walked onto the scene. "I knew it! I'm gonna have so much fun with you guys! …or maybe not."

"Stop clowning around!" Green shouted at him.

Bararasu merely shrugged. "Meh, whatever. You want me to get dangerous? Well then, _let's get dangerous_…" He then hunched into a fighting position, all pretenses of manic playfulness draining from his posture as he did so.

"You're mine!" Blue shouted as he rushed towards Bararasu, swords gleaming in the sunlight. Heedless of Pink's cries to stop, Blue cleanly sliced off both of the Action Commander's arms, whereupon they hung eerily in the air for what seemed like an eternity. With a nasty chuckle, Bararasu thrust his foot into Blue's gut, sending the latter stumbling backwards. As Blue re-grouped with the others, Bararasu's arms reattached themselves to his body.

"You know, that seems… awfully familiar…" Red droned, tilting his head in thought.

Yellow gasped. "That's impossible!" she cried. "The only one who could possibly use that ability was-"

"Oh, come now," Bararasu darkly drawled. "Did you really think that we wouldn't try to adapt the various abilities your homeworld showcased?" He performed a small pirouette, his head eerily staying in place as he did so. "As you've no doubt deduced by now, my abilities derive themselves from the user of the Chop-Chop Fruit, the late Buggy the Clown!"

Nami's face paled underneath her helmet. To think that a tenacious pirate like him could be offed by the Zangyakku just like that…

"Of course, my power isn't the authentic power of the Chop-Chop Fruit," Bararasu continued. "Even so, I'm superior to the clownish buffoon that thought himself a pirate in every way, shape, and form! For instance, I don't share the super drowning skills that were inherent to all Devil Fruit users." He then leapt up into the air, separating his various body parts and causing them to float in mid-air. "I also don't need to keep at least one body part grounded to be able to do this!" He then pulled himself together again. "In fact," he sneered, "it makes for a pretty good attack! Chop-Chop Gatling!" Arms outstretched, Bararasu's fists shot towards the Gokaigers, followed by the orbs that made up his arms, legs, and torso, his head bringing up the rear. With an almighty crash, the disassembled body impacted the team, sending them tumbling to the ground. Bararasu reassembled behind them before rapidly disassembling and attacking once more.

This pattern continued for several more passes, but as Bararasu continued to pummel the team, Luffy's eyes, hidden by his visor, noticed a strange, glowing red ball. As soon as Bararasu attempted to attack with the Chop-Chop Gatling again, Red stood straight up. Gun outstretched, he kept his eye out for that ball, and when he saw it, Red fired a single bullet. The impact of the Action Commander's rushing, flying body parts did send him back to the ground, but the deed was done.

Bararasu re-assembled himself once more, but did not instantly disassemble. "And just like that, the fugitives… die."

Just at that moment, energy crackled all over his body. As he looked down to see what the matter was, the red ball that connected his upper body to his lower exploded, sending him to the ground for a change.

"Grah! What was that!-?" he shouted. "I'll make you pay for that!" Bararasu then stretched his arms outward again… only for nothing to happen. "What…?" he muttered, looking at his hands before thrusting them out again. Nothing happened. "You… _meanies_! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!-?"

"Oh… now I get it," Green muttered as he stood back up. "Luffy must have busted whatever it was that allowed him to disassemble. Without it, he's just a regular psycho!"

"Luffy, did you know?" Pink asked of him.

"Nah," Red scoffed. "I just shot that glowing red thing cause I thought it was important to the plot."

Everyone, including the Action Commander, nearly face-faulted in shock at his utter boneheaded-ness.

"Sometimes, you amaze me, Luffy," Blue snarked as he recovered.

"GRAH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" the monstrous Pierrot roared.

"Not today," Red taunted as he held up the ShinkenRed key. The others followed suit with their Shinkenger keys.

"_Gokai Change!_"

"_SHIIIIIIIN… KENGER!_" the Mobirates called out as the Gokaigers assumed the form of the Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Accessing the Hiden Disk compartment that made up their belt buckles, the Gokai-Shinkengers slid their disks down the handles of their swords, the Shinkenmaru, onto the praxinoscope located below the blade. Holding them up, they spun the disc, allowing their energies to flood the blades.

"_Gojuu no Tachi!_" the Gokai-Shinkengers announced in unison as they zoomed towards Bararasu, each delivering a slash to the monster. When the last slash was made, the pent-up energies created an explosion that sent him sprawling to the ground. As he was floundering about, the pirates brought out more keys. This time, though, they were all red.

"_Gokai Change!_"

"_ZYUUUUUUU… RANGER!_" Gokai-ShinkenRed was enveloped in a yellow glowing grid, changing his form into that of TyrannoRanger.

"_KAAAAAAAKU… RANGER!_" A white flash spiraled in front of Gokai-ShinkenBlue, and after a few revolutions, he was replaced by NinjaRed.

"_GIIIIIIINGAMAN!_" Gokai-ShinkenYellow was surrounded by a trio of rotating columns of flame, When the jets of fire died down, she had assumed the mantle of GingaRed.

"_DAAAAAAAI… RANGER!_" Gokai-ShinkenGreen's form glowed with a red light. After it faded, the visage of RyuuRanger was standing in that same exact spot.

"_BOOOOOOOU__… KENGER!_" A compass erupted from Gokai-ShinkenPink's Mobirates, the needles wildly spinning before the symbol attached itself to her chest. After yet another flash of light, her transformation into BoukenRed was complete.

"Ummm… I think the author hates me…" Bararasu quietly muttered as he manages to get back up and saw five red warriors standing before him.

"And I think this one owes you some payback," Gokai-TyrannoRanger shot back, holding up the RyuGekiKen. GokaiYellow-as-GingaRed and GokaiGreen-as-RyuuRanger rushed forward first, the former thrusting her triangularly-interlocked palms forward and the latter reeling his fist back as if to punch something.

"Honoo no Tategami!"

"Ryusei Senkou!"

Jets of flames lashed out from GingaRed's palm formation and RyuuRanger's fist, creating a corridor of fire that Bararasu found himself unable to escape from. Unscathed by the inferno, GokaiBlue-as-NinjaRed and GokaiPink-as-BoukenRed emerged with their weapons, slashing him mercilessly.

"Mangetsugiri!"

"Red Zone Crash!"

Filled with crackling red energy, NinjaRed's Kakuremaru and BoukenRed's BoukenJavelin delivered devastating strikes against Bararasu. As they fell back, Gokai-TyrannoRanger stepped forward to deliver the final blow. With a fierce war cry, he let loose a powerful diagonal slash, one that ended the firestorm that had been started. Bararasu's body crackled with energy as the Gokaigers turned and walked away, reverting to their original suits in the process. They didn't even flinch as Bararasu collapsed and exploded.

* * *

Back on the Gigant Horse, Barizorg just stared impassively at his monitor, which was currently showing that Bararasu's life signs had been terminated. "**I DO NOT BELIEVE MASTER GILL WILL PLEASED WITH THIS OUTCOME,**" he stated calmly in his monotone voice. "**INTERVENTION IS REQUIRED.**"

"Perfect timing," a voice from behind him commented; he turned his head to see Insaan standing behind him. "I've been waiting for a chance to use one of my latest creations." She then sauntered off to her own console, and pressed a button on her keypad. "To be honest, I had hoped to get more data on the Bara-Bara system. And I never expected to have to test this on such a backwater planet."

Damaras looked on silently as the keypad lifted up off the console, revealing a strange, gun-like contraption housed underneath. Insaan removed the device from its cradle, wired up to something else within the ship. As she took aim at the planet they were currently orbiting, the cannons located on the Gigant Horse's port and starboard sides extended outward, five spikes of energy emerging from either barrel in an upside-down pentagram formation. With a squeeze of the trigger, thin beams of magenta streamed toward the target…

* * *

One beam impacted the site where Bararasu blew up, the other where his Sugormin were destroyed. In an instant, Bararasu's body was reconstructed and restored to life. The same thing happened to the slaughtered Sugormin. As energy surged through their bodies, they let out an almighty roar, and grew in size.

The Gokaigers, already a fair distance away, looked at the beams. All were silent (including Green, as he cowered behind Blue) as they saw their adversaries become giants.

"Oooh… kay… that's new…" Yellow snarked.

"What kind of mumbo-jumbo science can do that?" Usopp wondered in terror. Everyone blankly looked at him. "Hey, just because I'm a good hand with a wrench doesn't mean I fully understand what I do!"

"Yeah, well, this is starting to get boring. Time to take things up a notch," Red announced, taking out his Mobirates. Instead of inserting a Ranger Key, however, he merely pressed the numbers 5, 5, 0, and 1, then pressed the top-middle button.

"_GOOOOOOO… KAI GALLEON!_" the phone announced. The Gokaigers looked behind them to see the majestic Gokai Galleon flying towards their position. Five ropes descended from the belly of the great vessel; the Gokaigers took a running leap and caught them, reeling them in. As soon as they were inside, Red got behind the wheel in his cockpit, and directed his vessel at the rampaging giants.

"Portside Galleon Cannons, fire!" Red commanded. At once, the cannons on the port side unleashed their fury, sending one of the three Sugormin to Davy Jones. "Hard to port!" he called, yanking the wheel to the left. The bow of the ship rammed into one of the remaining Sugormin as it swerved to port. "Now, hard to starboard!" Red ordered, yanking the wheel back to the right. This caused the ship to send the Sugormin to the ground. The great ship then opened up cannon and missile fire in front of her, pelting Bararasu and the other surviving Sugormin with projectiles. "Nakama, you all set?" Red asked of his shipmates.

"No prob," Blue answered from within his own blue-tinted cockpit.

"Let's give 'em hell!" Yellow called out enthusiastically from her position.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Green timidly confirmed.

"Just give us the word, Luffy," Pink finished.

"In that case… then let's make this _really_ flashy!" Red ordered. The entire upper deck of the Gokai Galleon popped open, releasing the yellow Gokai Trailer. The top of the trailer, in turn, released the white-with-pink-highlights Gokai Marine, which released the green Gokai Formula, which released the blue Gokai Jet. Assembled, the five Gokai Machines advanced as one of the Sugormin took aim and fired at the grounded Gokai Formula.

"Not on my watch!" Blue called out. "Firing lasers!"

"Uh… me too!" Green nervously added. Bolts of blue and green energy impacted the offending Sugormin, sending him stumbling back a bit.

"Hey! Don't just leave us out, boys!" Yellow chided.

"Firing lasers!" Pink chipped in, as Trailer and Marine fired their own lasers at the weakened adversary. It fell to the ground and exploded without any further fuss. Meanwhile, the Sugormin that had been knocked down by the Galleon had gotten back up and moved in to shield his Action Commander.

"That took 'em down a peg or two!" Yellow cheered.

"As expected," Blue deadpanned.

"Enough chit-chat! Time to bring 'em all together!" Red commanded.

"Got it," Blue confirmed;

"Yup-yup!" Yellow;

"Right!" Green;

"Aye-aye!" and Pink.

"Kaizoku Gattai!" Red called out. As one, the Gokai Machines ascended back into outer space. Jet, Formula, Marine, and Trailer accelerated in front of the Galleon. The wings on the rear of the ship folded downwards as the main sails performed a 180 degree turn, then folded in upon themselves. The front of Marine split horizontally in half while Trailer's cab angled upwards, as a giant fist popped up from Formula's undercarriage and the unique fin that Jet sported separated from the fuselage.

Jet and Formula attached themselves to either side of the Galleon. Then, the bow of the ship split, with each half sitting on the shoulders of the nearly complete robot. The head revealed, the legs, made up of Marine and Trailer, attached to the Galleon's main thrusters. Inside the main cockpit, the other Gokaigers joined their captain as their control consoles and seats popped up from underneath. Blue and Yellow sat to Red's left, and Green and Pink to his right. The metal colossus then took hold of Jet's fin, now formed into a giant pirate hat, and placed it on its head.

"_Complete, GokaiOh! Full speed ahead!_" the team announced as one, as the combiner struck a pirate-like pose, then descended back to Earth. Twirling its twin cutlasses, formed from the very bow of the Gokai Galleon, it landed in front of Bararasu and the last surviving Sugormin, then quickly leapt over them, delivering overhead slashes to both. Bararasu charged, but GokaiOh counterattacked, leaving the mad clown stumbling. To add insult to injury, GokaiOh delivered another sword strike, but the Sugormin took the opportunity to attack while the robot's attention was focused elsewhere. It was not to be, however, as GokaiOh parried both monsters with thrusts from its swords. Deciding to focus their energies on the Action Commander for now, the Gokaigers yanked their wheels to the right. Another sword thrust swiftly sent Bararasu down to the proverbial mat.

GokaiOh turned to face the Sugormin, only to find that it was readying it's lasers. Quickly placing its cutlasses on its hips, the giant robot performed a few backflips to dodge the fire. As soon as it righted itself, however, Bararasu leapt in from behind, and grabbed hold of the giant black dial on GokaiOh's back.

"Guess who?" the Action Commander crowed as he held the robot in place.

* * *

Kouji swiftly ran up some stairs onto a walkway located in the industrial district, the better to see what was going on. As he looked upon the giant battle, Kouji flashed back to his childhood, and the nights he spent reading the stories of the Greek gods. His favorite out of them all was Zeus, whose own right fist was said to contain the holiest power in existence. The battle reminded him of the myths of the gods fighting against their predecessors, the Titans.

He stood silently, committing the beginning of a new war to memory.

* * *

"Nighty-night!" Bararasu roared in triumph as he attempted to toss GokaiOh to the ground.

Yellow could only snicker, as the only thing he had succeeded in doing was spinning the dial. "Thanks, dummy!" she saluted as doors opened on the robot's arms, legs, and chest, with a cannon emerging from the last. Said cannon swifty and rapidly fired cannonballs emblazoned with the team logo, dispaching the last Sugormin.

"Uh… what just…?" Bararasu merely squeaked.

"Hard to port!" Red ordered. The team, as a whole, swiftly spun the robot around to come face to face with the Action Commander. Hitting the buttons on the top of their buckles, the Gokaigers grabbed their Ranger Keys.

"_Ranger Keys, set!_" they announced as one, inserting the keys into the slots in their wheels. When they turned them, a special panel in said wheels displayed the words the team then repeated, "_Let's go!_" The dial on GokaiOh's back spun in response, opening it's doors once more. "_Gokai Starburst!_" the Gokaigers announced, the cannon emerging from the central cavity while cannonballs appeared in its arms and legs. The cannon began to, once more, fire multiple cannonballs, at Bararasu this time. The Action Commander was helpless before the onslaught, to say the least.

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" he yelled out as the robot turned its back on him. "THAT'S NOT-!" Those were his last words as he collapsed and exploded for the final time. Unseen by the Gokaigers, Kouji smiled. At last, he felt that the safety of the planet he called home could definitely be entrusted to this group of outsider pirates.

* * *

Later that evening, Usopp and Vivi were seen gazing at the sunset as the Gokai Galleon sailed through the air. Luffy was nowhere in the room, having gone topside to feel the wind.

"This planet's sun sure is pretty," the former mused.

"Personally, it reminds me of home," the latter responded.

"I'm more worried about other things," Nami shot back, "like that Kouji kid. Whatever happened to him?"

"Who knows?" Zoro shrugged.

"Luffy said he'd keelhaul that boy," Vivi pondered, turning away from the window to regard the others. "But, I think, in his own way, he was only looking out for him."

"Vivi, this is Luffy we're talking about, right?" the swordsman deadpanned.

"Zoro's got a point," Nami agreed. "You can't just shove assumptions onto someone else."

Vivi fell silent, but Usopp chose that moment to join the conversation. "Speaking of making assumptions," he piped up, "don't you think that Navi may have made one concerning the person in black?"

All eyes fell on Navi, who merely gulped. "Why are you guys giving me the evil eye?" he demanded. "I'm telling you right now, all of my predictions are accurate! Well… mostly… maybe?"

* * *

While Navi was currently digging his grave deeper, another person in black clothing watched the flying pirate ship soar into the distance. His hood obscured most of his features, but one was capable of seeing the trace of red running through his hair.

"Pirates, huh?" he muttered, taking off his hood. His hair was mostly brown, and his facial features had matured somewhat, but even without the ornate, yet small, letter 'M' embroidered on the front of his robes, it was clear that his presence had a mysterious air to it. It almost felt… like magic.

Kai Ozu, former leader of Mahou Sentai Magiranger, made up his mind. It was time for a little test…

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long to get this next installment up, but I hope that it has been worth the wait! I have to thank Kamen Rider Chrome for helping me and continuing to offer me support in writing this fanfic.


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